1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image communication apparatus such as a facsimile apparatus, and an image communication method and, more particularly, to an image communication method for recording reception data on a recording paper sheet or the like using an ink-jet printer.
2. Related Background Art
Conventional printers for recording data on recording media such as a paper sheet, an OHP sheet, and the like (to be referred to as a recording sheet or simply as a sheet hereinafter) have been proposed to carry recording heads of various recording systems. As recording heads, wire-dot, thermal, thermal-transfer, and ink-jet heads are available.
In particular, since an ink-jet system directly ejects an ink onto a recording sheet, it has received attention as a low-running cost and quiet recording method.
Of ink-jet systems, recently, a bubble-jet type ink-jet printer for ejecting an ink from ejection ports to a recording medium using bubbles generated by heat energy to record characters or images has been developed. This printer has heat generation resistors (heaters) which are arranged in the respective ejection ports and are considerably smaller than piezoelectric elements used in a conventional ink-jet printer, and multiple ejection ports can be arranged at a high density. Therefore, a high-quality image can be obtained, and high-speed and low-noise features can also be provided.
On the other hand, a facsimile apparatus is required not only to transmit an image at high speed but also to receive a high-quality image at high speed. The above-mentioned bubble-jet type ink-jet printer is considered as one of such printers which can satisfy the requirements in terms of its features.
In the ink-jet system, so-called out-of-ink detection for detecting the presence/absence of a remaining amount of ink must be performed. If a recording operation is continued without ink, nothing can be recorded, and a normal recording operation cannot be performed. However, if an out-of-ink detection circuit is arranged, cost is undesirably increased.
Even when an out-of-ink detection circuit is arranged, if its precision is low, an out-of-ink state often cannot be detected. Thus, a normal recording operation is distorted like in a case wherein no out-of-ink detection circuit is arranged.
In recent years, information processing apparatuses which can connect several types of printers (e.g., a thermal transfer printer) have been developed. The information processing apparatuses can select printers according to their recording characteristics.
In some image communication apparatuses having a facsimile function, data is temporarily stored in a file (memory) in a facsimile reception mode (to be referred to as a memory reception operation hereinafter), and the stored data is recorded by a printer after completion of reception. As a recording method, a method of automatically recording data after the memory reception operation, and a method of recording a data file designated by a manual operation are known.
When data is automatically recorded after the reception operation, the received data is deleted (erased) after the recording operation since a storage capacity of a file is limited.
When an ink-jet printer is connected as a printer for an information processing apparatus having a facsimile function by means of the memory reception operation, if it is an ink-jet printer which has no out-of-ink detection mode or has low precision if any, it is difficult to precisely perform out-of-ink detection, and received data which cannot be normally recorded may be deleted.